A person claiming to be an engineer at Foxconn has taken to Reddit’s IAMA subforum to share what he (or she) knows about the current status of Apple’s products. This includes previously unheard of information about an Apple augmented reality smart glasses, but also details about the next iPhone, MacBook, and iMac.
The identity of the person was supposedly verified by the Reddit moderators, but it is still difficult to say for sure if the information presented is accurate. That said, whoever it is was very candid about not knowing many things; instead focusing on smaller details.
As far as information goes, it would appear that the iMac is not receiving substantial upgrades this year. Instead, the leak claims that any design improvements have been pushed back to at least 2018. Still, it looks like Apple is going to introduce a full hardware redesign and smart-keys at that point. So it might be a good idea to keep waiting?
On the other hand, the MacBook looks to be adopting the smart key technology. This allows each key to adapt for the needs of the user, and uses e-ink for the keys themselves. It comes as a result of Apple’s acquisition of Australian startup Sonder late last year. There’s no information on how this is going to be spun by the Apple marketing group, but it should be appearing in 2018 and miss WWDC this year.
Details about the iPhone 8 are still sketchy, and the leak admits to having less information about the final design. For now, all details shared were from a design prototype that was being used shortly after Chinese New Year.
From what we can tell, Apple is also adopting a smaller bezel design on the front of the iPhone; expanding the amount of available display. It’s unknown if this will end up pushing the fingerprint reader to the back of the phone, and the source doesn’t have a conclusive answer. Still, the iPhone 8 will likely end up looking a lot like the iPhone 7.
The most exciting information shared concerned the supposed Apple AR glasses. These are a pair of smart glasses that project an augmented reality display in front of the wearer. Audio will be transferred through bone conduction instead of earbuds, and it will be controlled via voice commands.
Called Project Mirrorshades, the glasses also have the usual array of sensors found in smart devices: an accelerometer, GPS, magnometer, and head tracking. The engineering sample had transparent reader lenses, but it will apparently be capable of receiving prescription or polarised lenses.
Despite this, there is no certainty that the device will ever see the light of day. The leak suggests that there is a 65 percent chance that the project will be cancelled, although it could simply be Apple putting the idea on a backburner until it can refine the design.
Finally, there’s some details about the Siri speaker. This is something that is expected to turn up at WWDC, which means that we’ll find out about it soon enough. It’s supposedly designed like a tiny Mac Pro, and runs on a custom A9 chip. Which is all the leak has for us about it.
It’s hard to tell how accurate any of this really is. The leak itself is only familiar with engineering test designs, and much of the information can only be verified in 2018 when the new Macs are announced. Still, it looks like there’s a lot to look forward to next year. Which begs the question, “what will Apple announce at WWDC this year?”
[Source: Reddit]
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